The Religious Affiliation of
Jesus Christ
Jesus of Nazareth

BELOW: Nick Fury tells Thor he doesn't believe in any gods:

Fury put down his pen and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Okay," he said with his eyes closed. "I get it. If I have to raise my right hand and swear that I believe you're the Norse god of thunder just to get you to leave, I'll do it." He raised his right hand, looking down at his desk. Ten seconds or so later, he looked up. "You're not gone."

"You're not very convincing," Thor said.

"Neither are you, Mister Son of Odin, or Wotan, or whatever we're supposed to call him. I don't believe in gods--any of them--and until you bring Jesus Christ himself in to walk across the Upper Bay from Battery Park to here, that isn't going to change. Far as I'm concerned, you're a garden-variety anti-globalization wacko who got hold of some tech that nobody can reverse-engineer. Doesn't make you anything special."

Thor had started smiling at "Wotan," and couldn't stop. "Quite a speech, General Fury."

"You provoke me," Fury said.

"Well. Let me provoke you to pay attention."

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 38-39. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: gods; impiety; disbelief; Jesus Christ; Norse/Teutonic paganism; Atheist; Non-Religious; Christian (generic); Thor (Donald Blake); Nick Fury; Jesus Christ (Jesus of Nazareth); Odin

BELOW: Nick Fury feels he can't admit the possibity of Norse gods (e.g. Thor), because it would force him to adopt a whole new framework or worldview: Nick Fury is frustrated by his own inability to make up his mind about what he believes about Thor and Thor's claims of divine nature.

From the bridge of the Altair, Nick watched Thor join the battle. If there's one thing I hate, he thought, it's not being able to make a decision. And I just cannot decide whether Thor is the real thing or not. All of the jabbering about Loki makes me think he's a nutcase, but then he brings the lightning and teleports bombs to other dimensions.He just doesn't fit in any framework I can put together.

One possibility, Nick had to admit, was that he needed a new framework, but he was not about to admit the existence of Norse gods. If you let the Norse gods in, next thing you knew you had Kali and Ogun and Quetzalcoatl and Jesus H. Christ Himself wearing costumes and fighting bad guys. No man could stay sane for long if he took that scenario seriously.

Whatever Thor was, he sure could kick a--. that was what Nick needed right then, and that was all he was going to think about until this operation was over and they could all take a breath.

Source: The Ultimates: Against All Enemies (2007), pg. 303. Written by Alex Irvine. See also: gods; disbelief; Jesus Christ; Hindu; Norse/Teutonic paganism; Vodoun; Aztec; Christian (generic); Mayan; Jesus Christ (Jesus of Nazareth); Ogun; Quetzalcoatl; Kali

BELOW: Eddie Brock ("Venom") was moved by Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" to renounce villainy, sell The Symbiote, and donate the money to charity: The Terrible Tinkerer conducts an auction for super-villains in which Eddie Brock is auctioning off the alien symbiote that transforms him into Venom - selling the symbiote to the highest bidder. Note how Mysterio questions whether Eddie Brock's actions are truly "Christ-like." It is not every day you see a super-villain question whether somebody's actions are "Christ-like." But Eddie Brock's spiritual motivations in this case are very sincere, and hearken back to the earliest beginnings of this Catholic character, who first merged with The Symbiote after a sincere prayer in a Catholic church. Note how the Tinkerer refers to Eddie Brock's "crisis of faith." This term is usually used to describe as a period of doubt that causes one to question one's beliefs. In this case, Eddie Brock has come to doubt his life as a villain, and is actually turning back to his religious faith.

Source: Marvel Knights Spider-Man #6 (Nov. 2004): "Venomous: Part Two", pg. 23, panels 2-4. Written by Mark Millar. Art by Rachel Dodson, Terry Dodson. See also: charity; Christ-like; faith; repentance; crisis of faith; Catholic; Venom (Eddie Brock); Jesus Christ (Jesus of Nazareth); Tinkerer (Phineas T. Mason); The Symbiote; Mysterio (Daniel Berkhart); Mel Gibson